The Republican Party of Florida’s (RPOF) Sunshine Summit will kick off in Orlando next week with a “fireside chat” event with former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney, an attorney and political pundit who briefly ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014.
Sources told Sunshine State News on Monday that the former vice president will not offer a speech to launch the Sunshine Summit on Thursday, Nov. 12 but will instead engage in a more casual appearance with his daughter.
On Friday, the RPOF announced that the dinner featuring the Cheneys sold out with more than 950 tickets sold.
“This is an exciting time as Republicans across Florida come together for our party’s Annual Statesman dinner,” said Wadi Gaitan, a spokesman for the RPOF, on Friday. “The road to the White House goes through Florida, and our grassroots leaders and volunteers are ready to continue building the resources and grassroots organization needed to make 2016 successful for Republicans.”
Now 74, Cheney served in the Nixon White House, working under Donald Rumsfeld at the Office of Economic Opportunity before holding various positions, leading to becoming a deputy assistant to Nixon. When Rumsfeld became White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford, Cheney served as his deputy again before taking over as chief of staff when Rumsfeld was moved to secretary of Defense. Elected to the U.S. House to represent his home state of Wyoming in 1978, Cheney became part of the GOP leadership as chair of the Republican conference and House minority whip before taking over as secretary of Defense under President George H. W. Bush, overseeing Operations Desert Shield and Desert Sword. Cheney was vice president under President George W. Bush.
Liz Cheney worked in the State Department during George W. Bush’s presidency, focusing on the Near East and the Middle East. She helped the Bush-Cheney reelection effort in 2004 and chaired former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson’s, R-Tenn., bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. After a brief, unsuccessful primary bid against U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wy., in the 2014 election cycle, Cheney resumed her work as a Fox News contributor.
The Sunshine Summit will be held in Orlando from Nov. 12-Nov. 14. Twelve candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination and four contenders running for the U..S Senate in Florida will speak at the event.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
